


Circadian Rhythm

by zarrati



Series: Tumblr Prompts and Drabbles [8]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, season five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:41:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5006860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarrati/pseuds/zarrati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After everything they've been through--The Campaign, the break-up, Washington, all Ben wants to do is wake up with Leslie in his arms. If only they could just get on the same sleep schedule.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circadian Rhythm

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt: set in S5 Ben is trying to make himself wake up before Leslie, so he can wake up with her in his arms instead of waking up to an empty bed while she works - and of course, he doesn't tell her about any of it. Yet unknown to him, Leslie is also trying to fix this problem by rushing through her early work, hoping to jump back into bed afterwards in time for Ben to wake up next to her.

Surviving a long distance relationship really makes you appreciate the little things. You obviously miss the big stuff, too, seeing your significant other anytime you want, sharing meals…sex. 

Yes, Ben had definitely missed the sex.

But there was so much more to his and Leslie’s relationship. When he moved back to Pawnee, for good this time, he swore that he would allow himself to indulge in all of the little things he had missed out on in the last several months.

They were engaged now, living together in a new home, and it afforded him a whole slew of new opportunities. The cuddling on the couch whilst watching the History Channel had become an almost daily occurrence, they had eaten at JJ’s so often that the man could probably afford to retire tomorrow if he wanted to, and yes, ‘reunion sex’ was awesome.

But so was ‘engaged sex’.

And ‘thanks for unloading the dishwasher’ sex.

But even still, there was one thing he wanted more than the rest—to wake up with Leslie in his arms.

Their’s was certainly an atypical relationship. Their time together before her campaign was sporadic, sneaking around behind everyone’s back. Once they had come clean and were able to be together without any repercussions hanging over their heads, there was still Leslie’s campaign taking up the bulk of their time. 

Then, of course, there was Washington.

All of this coupled with Leslie’s almost non-existent sleep schedule made his last wish fairly hard to achieve. He could count on one hand the times he had woken up before her, and those times she was usually so rundown and exhausted, he almost couldn’t enjoy the feeling.

Almost.

But they didn’t have to worry about guilt anymore, or the stress of running a campaign keeping them awake at night. Now, he just had to somehow manage to wake up before her.

He was so screwed.

* * *

The number of times that Ben failed in the last three weeks would have been funny if he hadn’t been trying so hard. 

Alarms had been set at various intervals, but each time he woke up, it was to an empty bed, the light from the hallway seeping through the crack under the door. 

He tried taking naps throughout the day—he was unemployed and it beat claymation—but he still ended up sleeping through the night. 

He had hoped a few rounds of mind blowing sex would exhaust her enough to stay in bed a few extra hours, but all that did was make him sleep harder than usual. 

There was one night he really thought it would happen. Leslie had come back from a girl’s night with Ann, and she was drunk off of her ass. He felt terrible, but a tiny part of him hoped that if she was going to have a hangover _anyway_ , he could use her lethargy to his advantage. 

Instead of waking up groggy, hungover, and in Ben’s arms, Leslie spent the night in the bathroom throwing up. 

Every morning he’d wake up, feel the empty space next to him, and deflate a little inside. 

Sometimes she’d wander into the room as he was getting up, surprised that he was up so early. Other times he’d pad over to the office in the next bedroom, bleary eyed and yawning, and wrap his arms around her as she worked, trying to make himself believe it was the same thing.

It wasn’t, but it was as close as he was going to get. 

* * *

Two weeks had gone by since he had decided to give up on his absurd pipe dream of waking up before her. It bothered him, and he _hated_  that it bothered him.

What more could he want? He was going to spend the rest of his life sharing a bed with her. He should be grateful, he should know how erratic her internal clock could be. She was a city counselor trying to pass laws, build her dream park,  _and_  plan a wedding. 

He was surprised she slept at all.

But a small part of him, that tiny, selfish part, wanted her to just once, _once_ , put all of that off and stay in bed with him. 

But short of telling her what he wanted, it would take a miracle, and he decided to just let it go before it upset him even more. 

So that one morning, when his eyes opened and 5:30, he didn’t give it much thought that the bed was cold next to him. He was about to roll over and go back to sleep when he heard the door slowly open. He could barely make out Leslie as she crept across the dark room, obviously doing her best to stay quiet.

She slipped out of her house shoes and crawled between the sheets.

“What are you doing?”

Leslie screamed in surprise and almost fell off of the bed. “Oh my God.” She hit him on the shoulder as he sat up beside her. “Don’t do that. I thought you were still asleep.”

“Sorry? I mean I was, then I woke up, and was about to go _back_  to sleep when you tried to stealthily creep back in. How many times do I have to tell you that you aren’t good at being sneaky.”

"Shut up. Yes, I am.”

“Uhm, no, not really, but that’s besides the point. What are you doing?”

“Coming back to bed,” she said defensively. 

He rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously. But why? You never do that.”

“Gosh, can’t a girl take a bathroom break.”

“We have an en-suite.”

“I like the one downstairs better.”

“Liar.” He leaned over and sniffed her. “You reek of permanent marker. Don’t tell me you weren’t working in your office.”

Leslie grunted in frustration and slammer her hands against the mattress. “Fine! I was sneaking back into bed because for the last month, I’ve been trying to get as much work done as possible so I can sneak back here when you wake up.”

Ben’s heart soared. “Really?”

“Yes. I was trying to be romantic since we’re living together and engaged now, and I just thought it would be nice. But now all of a sudden you’ve been keeping these crazy hours and I never make it back in time. I tried to tire you out using sex, but then that made _me_  sleep later so I didn’t get everything done in time before you woke up. I even got drunk with Ann hoping it would force me to sleep in, but all that did was make me sick.”

Ben couldn’t help himself, he just starting chuckling until it grew into a full belly laugh that made tears stream down his face.

She crossed her arms and scowled. “Well I’m glad my attempts at a romantic gesture are so amusing to you.” 

"No, babe,” he gasped, “I’m not laughing at you. Really.”

“Could have fooled me.”

He tried to stifle his laughs, pulling her into a hug that she didn’t reciprocate. “Do you want to know why I’ve been waking up at these crazy hours?”

No answer.

“Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway. I’ve been trying to wake up before you for the exact same reasons.”

She looked at him. “Are you serious?”

“Totally serious. You’re always gone by the time I wake up, so I wanted to beat you at least once.”

Leslie pressed her face into the cook of Ben’s neck and started laughing. “Oh my God, we’re a pair, aren’t we?”

He pressed a kiss to her hair. “That is very much like us. Trying to sneakily do something romantic behind the other’s back and it blows up in our faces.”

Leslie wrapped her arms around Ben’s middle as her giggles died down. “Well, thank you. That was very sweet of you to try to wake up with me.”

“No, thank _you_ for trying to sneak back into bed with me.”

"Well, I really do have to get up for work now, but how about this. Every Saturday morning we allot a designated morning cuddle time around when you normally wake up. I’ll be sure to be back here in time. Sound good?”

He hummed. “Sounds amazing. Thank you.”

With one squeeze to Ben’s middle and a kiss, Leslie started getting ready.

“Oh,” she threw over her shoulder as she left the room, “by ‘cuddle time’, I also mean out-of-this-world sex. Just so you know.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Visit me on tumblr here](http://www.benwyattforcongress.tumblr.com)


End file.
